As English becomes the standard language for the whole world, it would seem that people would study other languages less and less, or at least do so only as a hobby. Yet, it seems to me that people from all around the world are studying foreign languages more and more.

Is that really the case?

If so, what is going on here?

Someone once told me that studying Chinese was a waste of time, because in another 5 or 10 years time (5 years to become good at it, 10 to become great ) everyone will know how to speak English.

I have to admit, that I don't favor the idea of spending my life in China, and I don't feel passionate about the the Chinese language (it has it's charms, but I mostly see it as just another communication tool) .

Yet I have always held the view, that if I could speak English, Spanish (my second language), and Chinese, that this would be a really major investment in my future, from career prospects to traveling.

Is this still a sensible approach?

English is already spoken widely in China. But only by a small proportion of the population.

The average person you meet in China does not speak English.
The average person in France does not speak English, even if they did do it in school.
The average person in England speaks English, but no other language effectively.

Forget learning language as an investment in your future. Yes as a multi-lingual person you are more employable than a mono-lingual person. But there are limits.

For travelling, language is useful but not essential. How many travellers can speak the languages of all of the countries they have been to?

For daily life in China, you can get by with survival Chinese. Until something goes wrong and needs fixing.

"The average person in England speaks English, but no other language effectively."

Hmmm. Both my parents were from England (Oldham and London (Southwark)), yet my Canadian born first wife could not understand either of them.

"Forget learning language as an investment in your future. Yes as a multi-lingual person you are more employable than a mono-lingual person. But there are limits."

Thanks, this is interesting. Would like to hear more on this, as well as any divergent opinions.

"For daily life in China, you can get by with survival Chinese. Until something goes wrong and needs fixing."

I might disagree with this.
You wont starve or die of course, but I think big obstacles (maybe the main ones) one faces here are isolation, boredom, and frustration.

I have been in China since 2004. I have property in my own right (as well as with my wife), a driving licence and car, bank accounts, and a job.
I have never very much passed survival Chinese. I am not proud of this, but it is a fact.

But I have nearly always worked in English speaking environments, and my Chinese wife speaks good English.
If I was on my own I could feel isolated, but then again, with all the expat bars and restaurants here, maybe not.

I don't think any English speaking foreigner need to study Chinese. becaus its useless untill you reach the medium level. and since most Chinese words are monosyllable, to diffreciate them you need to prononce on the right tone. and most Chinese people's hearing are not so good, even if you prononce the right words in the right tone, they still can not understand you.

I'v seen a couple of foreigners who married Chinese wife, but still, hardly speak any Chinese. But I also saw some forigners (all female) only study Chinese for 4-6 months, but already speak good Chinese at comunicable level.

But, if you don't speak either English or Chinese, I suggest you study one of the two as to get by in China.

To live effectively in China, particularly outside of Shanghai or Beijing etc. (and of course Hong Kong, SAR but that's a different story altogether) knowing at least some Chinese is almost a must, unless you don't mind using mime or carrying a dictionary with you all the time or a Chinese speaker to help you with almost every task - this becomes a nuisance after a while, because you really don't want to bother people (often the same person) every time you go out just because you need to buy 1kg of potatoes or explain directions to a taxi driver, for example.

I've found there are more English speakers in Kunming than I previously thought, but in general, there aren't many and English speakers here are only found in very specific fields (e.g. English speaking doctors, check-in agents at the airport etc.). Certainly you can't just speak English with everyone you meet like you would in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia etc. even if not everyone in those countries speaks English either, but all the important people you will deal with, will. Hotels, many taxi drivers, department stores, travel agencies all have English speaking employees by default in those countries. Except in very isolated areas, you don't have to even bother asking "do you speak English?", because of course they will...with that many tourists and the fact that the native languages in all those countries are barely spoken outside their own countries, hence few foreigners would be expected to speak them. Not so in Kunming or China in general; you will still need to be able to speak at least basic Chinese in most hotels just to get a room in Kunming - and more to be able to make anything more than a very basic request to the staff.

China is different to most other countries in the fact that most everything is done in the local language, information wise, technology wise etc. Go to any foreign airline site that serves China for example. Go to the China page and often it will only have Chinese as a language option, some airlines may also have English too, but many don't. The same airline might have a Thailand or Vietnam page only in English. This inspite of those countries not being native English speaking countries - therefore I think it will take a long time before China moves onto the "English speaking bandwagon" like many other regional countries and countries around the world have done in general - sure it is producing more and more English speakers, but a complete change in mentality is needed before you'll see more English on everything from shopfronts to company websites to employees in shops being able to speak it here (including in Wenlin jie; I'm talking about places where as many as half the customers are foreigners!)

And about English speakers in France, well, there are certainly more than in China (as a percentage of the population at least). Although getting by with English in rural France might be difficult, it won't be in Paris or other large cities even if French people won't admit to being able to speak English because they don't want to, in many cases they can. This is simply no comparison to China.

To put it another way, if you don't plan on living in China indefinitely, does studying Chinese make sense?

And perhaps this question could be asked of any language (except English).

When people study Russian or Japanese these days, they often say its only for business purposes. But I would guess that Russian and Japanese business people know how to speak passable English?

I think in answering that question you have to think about why English is such a widely spoken language. Its because America and England came to dominate a lot of the world through business, technological innovation and military might. However it seems this is on the wane from both countries and asia appears to be the lady in waiting on all fronts (while the still have a fair way to go), particularly China.

What I do know is this - in my country how many lao wai spoke Chinese or any asian language 30 years ago... almost none. Now, quite a few people are studying asian languages and speak them fairly fluently. Is this just for fun? I believe most people see asia rising and want to be able to communicate effectively both ways, be it for business or just so they can be part of the new world order that will appear in the not so distant future...

Chinese people in China will always speak their local dialect and/or Chinese first and English or another language second. Being able to communicate in the same way will give you a leg up in business/love/whatever. While Chinese people will communicate with you in English if required (and if they know English), you have to look at it from their point of view. If they have 2 people to do business with/fall in love with/become friends with, 1 that knows Chinese (and therefore probably understands the culture a lot more) and 1 that doesn't, who do you think they are likely to connect with? Remember Chinese is a much more social based culture and less contractual than the west...

@blobbles
You forget that some cultures also view most relationships in a much more utilitarian way.

If you have two people to do business with, which one offers the best return on investment.
If you have two people to marry, which one will provide the most secure future. Love? Nice but not essential.
If you have two people to make friends with, who will be able to offer the most social advantage. Hell! let's make friends with both of them and double the advantage.